Puneet Issar on his play 'Jai Shri Ram — Ramayan': 'It’s a four-year labour of love'

Puneet Issar on his play 'Jai Shri Ram — Ramayan': 'It’s a four-year labour of love'

Puneet Issar, who brings Jai Shri Ram — Ramayan to the stage today, gives a peek into the play which has a dozen songs, four dances, dialogue in poetry form and LED backdrops designed by the technical crew of Broadway musical

Roshmila BhattacharyaUpdated: Saturday, November 19, 2022, 07:42 PM IST
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Puneet Issar |

For the last four years, Puneet Issar has been working on an ambitious stage production, Jai Shri Ram — Ramayan, which opens today at Mumbai’s St. Andrews’s Auditorium. “It’s a four-year labour of love, jointly written by my son Siddhant and me, with the dialogue in poetry form. We researched for a year, worked through the two years of the Covid pandemic and have been rehearsing since January,” informs Puneet.

The actor, who became a household name as Duryodhan in BR Chopra’s TV serial Mahabharat, plays Raavan in this theatrical adaptation of the Ramayan. The play begins after Raavan, following 11,000 years of penance, receives weapons, a chariot, the ability to shapeshift and the boon to be invincible to all creations of Brahma, except for humans. He grows arrogant, walks the path of adharm and spreads terror. “And as an antidote, Ram, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, comes to earth in human form to destroy Raavan,” shares Puneet, admitting that retelling the epic in two hours and 40 minutes was a Herculean task.

Siddhant, who plays Ram in Sagar Arts’ upcoming mini-series Jai Maa Vaishno Devi, shoulders the title role in his father’s production too. “He is the right age, with the same thehraav (calm), grace and the power of youth, while I, in my early sixties, am perfectly pitched to play Raavan,” Puneet smiles, admitting that the father-son faceoff will not only be a big draw for the audience but has kept him on his toes.

“Siddhant is so focused and prepared that he is a tough opponent,” the doting father chuckles, pointing out that while Dara Singh played Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar’s TV serial Ramayan, his son Vindu reprises the role three decades later.

Simikssha Batnagar is Sita and Puneet promises to unveil some unknown aspects of the Ram-Sita love story and give lessons on women’s liberation while Shiva, who also blessed Raavan, is the sutradhar (narrator). “This is Ramayan told from Ram’s perspective. We have strung a beautiful pearl necklace studded with chopais, dohas and a dozen songs performed live. No one will be bored,” promises Puneet.

Besides the title track scored by Abhinav Kaushul and Anadi Nagar’s track for Raavan, Udhav Ojha has come up with 10 more compositions.

There’s a song for Sita’s introduction and a viraah geet (song of loss) following her separation from Ram, one for Hanuman, another for Ram’s army and a prayer for shakti (strength) before going into the final war.

“Even Surpanakha’s entry is heralded by a paisa vasool song. There are also four live dances, two of them, including the virah geet, choreographed by Kathak exponent Ruchi Sharma, the others by Rajeev Surti who has choreographed songs for Shah Rukh and Salman Khan starrers,” informs Puneet.

While music is undoubtedly the USP of this Ramayan, attention has also been lavished on the sets, costumes and LED screens.

“This is India’s most expensive play and the technical team of the Broadway musicals Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast has been roped in to design our LED backdrops which will transport the audience to Ayodhya and Lanka. The play is like a 70 mm movie with the actors stepping out of the screen to perform live,” he avers.

Om Raut’s upcoming film Adipurush, with Prabhas as Ram and Saif Ali Khan as Raavan, has come in for sharp criticism over misrepresentation following the release of its trailer. It is currently going through major reworking. Doesn’t that make him apprehensive? “Not at all,” Puneet says confidently, pointing out that his play is loyal to Valmiki’s Ramayan where both Narad and Hanuman describe Ram as a man of average height with long arms and a chikna, hairless face.

“After 14 years of exile, when Ram returns to Ayodhya, Shatrughan cuts his jata (top knot), but there’s no mention of him being shaved. So, you can’t suddenly give him a beard and moustache. And where is Ram’s Vishnu tilak? Or Ravan’s Tripund tilak? He was a Brahmin scholar, not a Taliban warrior! You can’t experiment with art in the name of creative liberty. Kala ki maryada ke saath khilwaad nahin kar sakte, not when you are making a film on Maryada Purushottam Ram,” Puneet argues.

He points out that his play, Mahabharat The Epic Tale, has completed a platinum jubilee run, he recently performed Ram Leela to an appreciative crowd and has earlier successfully staged Raavan Ki Ramayan. “There’s never been any criticism. We already have a booking for four shows of Jai Shri Ram — Ramayan at Mumbai’s NCPA in January, following which we plan to travel across Maharashtra, Gujarat, go up North and across India,” he signs off.

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